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Mar 25, 2011

Have you ever seen any God-send angel in humane form? Or a divine body dressed in white? If your answer is a “NO” then let me suggest you to visit a doctor. Yes you hear me right, visit a doctor. I am sorry for my suggestion is not for any treatment as such but to make you know about my subject, the earthly angels. So my dear friends lets break the ice and let me have the pleasure to introduce you to the noblest of the noble, the doctors. Call them angels, fighters of death, saviors or whatever you like; they are the most prestigious one. Their field, the Medicine, is a profession that has got a brilliant scope both in this world and in the hereafter. Here they can earn a good fortune and humility and for hereafter, they earn God`s credit and a fine grade for the report-card of their fate. A doctor can do social service and that too without spending a single cent from his pocket, Ha-ha! In fact it`s a doctor only that never gets retired from his job. For all this, the doctors aptly enjoy the pride of being next to God.

Well the compendium of this write-up is not all about praising the doctors for their noble character rather to bring the realism to the front, the bitter truth and a question that needs an answer. I know this may be hard to digest for many of my readers but I am sorry the angels dressed in the white apron are not all milk and honey rather they are also earthy and bound to make mistakes, of course with some exceptions. That’s why I put up a simple question; do they really deserve accolades or what?

Now follows the reasons for their downsides. Doctors are very rightly taught all the physiology and anatomy stuff. These longheaded creatures are good learners of medicine and chemistry. Everything is excellent with them. Alas! There is a big miss! An important subject has been slipped. How could they? I ask the big brains… A subject of social relations and human-conduct is missing somewhere in the syllabus of their moral science. And this is a fact that`s very visible from their attitude which is full of arrogance and pride. Right from their gestures to their gait, everything is packed with pride. Their lady associates are more inclined towards the daily soaps presenting trendy pompous doctor lifestyles. Their personality always seems to be hanging on the cloud 9. They are always in a rush and their hasty speech confuses you; bang! What to have at the morning and what else in the evening? This remains an enigma! Well, better take my advice and never think of questioning them because they will never tolerate snooping, as they call it. It will only earn you their wrath. Fittingly at this moment I felt to summon up my childhood memoire when I used to visit a government hospital with my granny. On watching the doctors` stinging nature she used to say “Doctors get frustrated with their tough study schedule and the reflection is in their nature which is devilish. They are very proud of earning a first-rate educational degree and that’s the reason they are so arrogant.” At that time it scared me of studying the lessons that lead to frustration. Ha-ha! And now it makes me laugh.

Now talking about the patients’ role in doctor`s life. Well a patient happens to be the main facet in the life-cycle of a doctor. In fact it`s him only by means of which a doc earns his living but the irony is that for a doctor, the patient is not more than a subject. In private practicing, the patient is only a money-making device and in government part, the subject is a headache for him. Moreover in the former case, the docs try their level best to keep their patients buzzing around their clinics all the time and in the latter they don`t like to see their faces for a second time. A patient is made to wait for hours for his turn and once the patient is pinged to go in, it takes not even a minute to get him examined properly and as such the patient is send back just with a pack of pills and dissatisfaction. Now here goes another question…Was all this that they had promised while taking the Hippocratic Oath? Or was that just a mockery?

It really pains to see us greasing their palms with our pricey darling bucks just for burning our own body with their acids and alcohols. Period! Now another minus! Here goes one more slipup in their course of study and this time it`s their handwriting, an ugly one. Their script is quite illegible for a common man and it`s only another doctor or a chemist who can read the prescription. Even sometimes it gets misinterpreted and the result is nothing but chaos for the sufferer. And again another “doctor issue”... Doesn’t this astonish to see the calligraphy of the big intellectuals so repulsive? Is this their reason for their egoism? I ask the brainy heads.

Now let`s take the doctor`s opinion. They say that they are fully dedicated towards their job but claim their role is undervalued. One of the overwhelming statements made by one of their comrade Doctors that made me utterly thunderstruck goes like this-“we deserve accolades but get brickbats instead”. I wonder if their claim of being only the unsung heroes is appropriate then God knows exactly what`s left there for professionals expecting some share of social esteem as well. The fact is fairly crystal clear that the medicine profession has ruled the roost in Kashmir for decades and will be positively doing so in the coming time as well. There is no question of any discrimination at all. In fact there is a monopoly of this mbbs thing among all the chores of study in Kashmir. Our society is badly infected with an OCD that`s far more frustrating than its namesake the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This OCD a different kind of abnormality. it`s a psychic infatuation towards the doctors profession that occurs only in Kashmir. I call it Obsessive Compulsive Doctor-philia. Alright my definition for OCD is not a part of any dictionary as such but a part of our valley wherein there is really an abnormal attachment towards this profession. Everyone wants to become a doctor. It’s the number one preference . All the time, parents keep boosting their wards with the phrase“Mera beta doctor baneyga” without caring about the interest of their kids. All the medical students crave to get into a medical college. There is a do or die situation for them. They are ill-advised that in medical field they have only two options: either a doctor else nothing. Now if my dear doctor’s claim of indiscrimination holds any weight then my simple question to the brainy men is that why people are so mad about this profession? Students, all the night long, burn all their vision preparing for the pre-medical tests. Why? I ask you sir. Why is our society so affectionate towards doctors? Why is the medicine profession considered as the splendid of all? The answer is obvious. There is something heavenly about this field that is making people insanely to go after it. In fact it is a doctor whose position is considered as the most impressive one among our people. It`s a doctor getting a fine matching spouse at the right time. It`s him again earning the most preference and kindness in all the daily chores.

Now talking about the recent raid on doctors` private practicing, the whistle-blower that insanely engulfed almost all dailies currently in Kashmir. Different write-ups are being engineered utilizing the catchy news with columnists jumping on from one side and doctors on the other front turning the tables on, in their defense. Discussions, arguments, reflections, opinions and criticisms; these are the only buzzwords occupying the length and breadth of most of the newspapers these days .I wonder why people are unnecessarily making the issue look so “BIG” when the debate holds no water as such. If any of the docs have been caught red handed private practicing during their working hours then they must be seriously detained for that. If our docs are getting non-practicing allowances then for what reason, other than money, are they getting into such mal-practicing? They are only concerned in adding more fortune to their money banks, i must say. I don`t find any wrong in underscoring the scandal by forwarding the video footage on internet. It was an obvious reflection from everyone. In fact I am happy for this healthy move that our net-savvy crowd is so full of zip that it can pin point at any flaw. We cannot overlook the importance of internet in awaking the general masses about any wrong. How can we underrate the fact that it is mainly the internet that has toppled down regimes and brought revolution in the gulf. The Arab streets are speaking the fact. One on side authorities is beating the drums of Jago Grahak Jago and on the side the wakeful consumer`s vision is dumped. Why this double standard?

Now if you ask me; should private practicing be banned or not? Then my reflection will be straight affirmative for banning it. Yes the private practicing should be debarred is my answer. In fact privatization in many other streams too like public-transportation, education, etc must be banned completely or at least relieved to some extent. If our docs are that concerned about their patients then they must practice privately but in their homes and that too for free, as a part of social service. More importantly, the government must act fast in this regard and provide our kind doctors with good initiatives and handsome remunerations so that they are not attracted by the foreign bait and switch policies. Confidence building measures are to be taken in this concern. No doubt SKIMS and the like health sectors in our valley are working day and night beyond capacity. But all we need to scrutinize is that why are people moving more towards private things when government is providing it for them. The cynicism about private practicing that it provides more care than its counter-part needs to be eradicated. We have to rebuild our health sector and innovate new and mature policies to alleviate from any burden of overwork such that both the doctors and the patients get satisfied with the working process and the need for going after any private thing gets washed out. In fact the ball is our court now. It`s our decision that will count. We need to change our attitude towards public health sector and build confidence in our system rather than flush our pockets at private clinics. It`s us only who`ll decide the fate of private practicing and bridge the gap.

Last of all, I wind-up this handiwork with a plea to my dear doctors.

Respected sirs, I am not here to poke you for any of your fault. No sir, not at all. Everything has got its positives and negatives. In fact I beyond doubt realize the fact that I stand nowhere in criticizing your wisdom; I just want to lay out the opinion of a common man who expects some support from his doctor which I am sorry I failed to find in your personality, dear sirs. It`s an appeal from a common man to listen to his cries; I beseech you Dear sir, for your care, attention and your affection. You don’t realize the fact that you are a God-send angel for me, a cure to my ailments and an aid to my poor fellows. I am not asking you for any Munna Bhai`s “Jado ki jappi”. But I only expect a simple kind word and a smile. Believe me Dr; it can really do the magic. I swear your single polite remark is far effective than thousands of your drugs.

Lastly I request to be excused for any criticism I made to your noblest professionalism of medicine.